Salem reads the Doctor Who comic strips: Part 1

Doctor Who and the Iron Legion

Written by: Pat Mills & John Wagner

Art by: Dave Gibbons

Thoughts before I start

The Iron Legion has a very special place in my heart. Not only is it the first strip in this line (first published in Doctor Who Magazine 1,) but this was my first introduction to the Fourth Doctor.

I was 5th grade (possibly 6th) and got a trade paperback of Doctor Who Classics Omnibus, which contained this as the first story in the collection if I remember correctly.

I remember being swept off of my feet by the Fourth Doctor, how even though he looked strange against the story he was in, he fit right in. It made me feel good, given how different everything was for me at the time.

The Fourth Doctor always jumps to my mind when I think about Doctor Who and comics.

This story was also my introduction to the work of Dave Gibbons, a monument to the comic industry.

Plot Summary

In Doctor Who and the Iron Legion, we find the Fourth Doctor travelling alone throughout the universe. He lands the TARDIS on a planet much like our own that is being invaded by an army of robotic centurions from the Galactic Roman Empire. The Doctor gets involved in an altercation with the Ninth Legion that results in a tank firing a shell at the TARDIS as the Doctor takes off.

The TARDIS is thrown into a "dimensional disturbance" and lands in a victory parade for General Ironicus as he and his iron legion return from the Dimension Duct. The Doctor is apprehended almost immediately and we learn that the Emperor, Adolphus is a child. General Ironicus demands the knowledge to how the TARDIS works to help his further campaigns for the glory of the Galactic Roman Empire, when the Doctor refuses, he is thrown into the arena with the "Ectoslime."

The Doctor is sentenced to death by General Ironicus, which the Doctor handily escapes by making a joke to the Ectoslime. This infuriates General Ironicus, who sentences the Doctor to slavery aboard the Imperial Air Galley; a large zeppelin used to transport the royal family to the Temple of the Gods. Here, the Doctor meets Morris, a a cyborg slave who received his cybernetics due to his numerous escape attempts. As the royal family passes by them however, the Doctor notices something about Juno, the mother of the emperor, something that reveals a horrifying secret about the Galactic Roman Empire.

The Imperial Air Galley arrives to the Temple of the Gods, which the Doctor recognises immediately as an alien space ship. Morris and the Doctor soon after escape their chains and outrun the guards before running into Vesuvius, the oldest robot in Rome. They help Vesuvius by turning his pressure valve and relighting his flame and Vesuvius joins the Doctor as a companion. The Doctor asks Vesuvius to lead him and Morris to the Chamber of the Gods where the royal family and General Ironicus are praying to the Gods. The Doctor notices as the statues begin to move, the Doctor recognises the "gods" as members of the alien species the Malevilus.

The Doctor and their companions witness the first prisoners from another dimension being offered up in thanksgiving to the gods or the Malevilians: Babiyon, Abiss, Epok, Nekros, and Magog. The three run away from the massacre as they are noticed by the Malevilus and run into General Ironicus, who they take as a hostage as they escape. During their escape General Ironicus himself escapes, ordering some of his legion to pursue the group.

During their daring escape, the group are attacked by a group from the lron Legion, sent to kill them for desecrating the Temple of the Gods. The Doctor informs Morris to use the bact gun to fire back, killing the pursing legionaries. One of the heavily damaged soldiers fires back hitting Morris and damaging the craft the group was on. Morris dies shortly after they crash land, but the Doctor and Vesuvius find a sleeping army of Bestiarus - Beast Men, which were deactivated due to their destructive tendencies. The Doctor, against Vesuvius wishes, begins to make adjustments to their equipment to "smash the evil of Rome!"

The Doctor awakens the Beast Men and, with Vesuvius' help, makes his way to the Imperial Box. General Ironicus and Magog are meeting in the Imperial Box, ironically, about the capture of the Doctor. The Doctor's appearance enrages Magog, who kills General Ironicus, which leads to his burning body landing in the Circus Maximus, specifically onto the race track for "the savage chariot races." Magog then changes from her human form to her alien form, and begins to attack the Doctor.

The Beast Men begin their attack on the empire, starting the revolution. While the revolution starts Magog begins to attack the Doctor by attacking every cell in his body, making every cell feel pain. The Doctor quickly thinks and points a camera at Magog, broadcasting the encounter to the entire Galactic Roman Empire. During this broadcast the Doctor urges the citizens of the empire to rise up against the evil the runs the Galactic Roman Empire, which works inciting more rebellion. Magog, however gains the upper hand on the Doctor, exclaiming their glee at finally eating a Timelord, but after he tells her the secrets of the TARDIS. Once in the TARDIS the Doctor tricks Magog into accidentally sending herself into a spare dimension locked away within the TARDIS. Magog vows to return as she is sucked away, and the people destroy the Malevilus' spaceship, ending their rule. The people name Vesuvius as their new Caesar and the Doctor departs, into their next adventure...

How I felt about the story:

This story doesn't make any impressive changes to the story structure of typical Classic Doctor Who stories. It doesn't exactly challenge anything about how we view stories told with the Doctor, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Doctor Who and the Iron Legion is a fun if not a little boring in the middle. I love a good "Doctor helps overthrow an evil empire" story, but as far as this story goes it's kind of basic. A good intro for telling Who stories with the comic medium but not groundbreaking.

Dave Gibbons art is incredible. It feels like l'm looking at a 70's Who story and captures the vibe of Tom Baker's era perfectly. It's just nice to look at, even without colours (which is how I read it for this, but the first time I read it it was the coloured version.)

Should you read this?

I think if you have time to read it, and want to start getting into the Doctor Who comic strip yes. It's entirely unnecessary to however, and if you don't want to-you won't miss out on much (other than some cool art!)

Rating:

3/5

Bestiarii (Beast Men)

Bestiarii (Beast Men)

A great modern misconception is that Roman gladiators fought against wild beasts in the arena. But gladiators only fought against other men. Warriors who faced off against lions and bears were a whole other classification entirely. They were known as the bestiarii, the ‘Beast Men.'

To the ancient Romans, no spectacle brought about the same feverish excitement as fights to the death in a packed arena. Thousands flocked to coliseums, placing bets, watching on violently animated, while the most prominent dignitaries from the highest echelons of Roman society acted out their limitless thirst for vile blood-spill - from the safety of the Senator’s seating section. And spectators, be it prince or pauper, took as much enjoyment from men fighting monsters as they did from them fighting one another.

There were two types of bestiarii. One was he who stepped in and faced a wild monster of his own accord, either as a means of making a living, or to see his name in lights via some warped sense of narcotic joy. This Man v Animal event was known as a venatio and was immensely popular, usually preceding the gladiator bouts. The vast majority of venatio events were rigged to be extremely one-sided, sometimes a dozen or more men would torture and kill a lion.

Emperor Commodus was a bestiarus, much to the chagrin of the Senate who would have preferred to see him immersed in more diplomatic duties befitting the Emperor of Rome, rather than see him facing off against an (always limp or injured) animal.

The other type of bestiarii was one who had been sentenced to death via mauling. This was usually a prisoner of war, a criminal, a runaway slave or a person who for one reason or another had lost the right to be part of Roman society. These events were known as Damnatio ad bestias and like venatio were also overwhelmingly one-sided – but this one was in favour of the beasts.

Sometimes men were sent out with just a spear, completely unarmed or even naked, and often didn’t last more than the time it took for an animal to sprint across the sand and lunge at them. If they did manage to slay the beast against all odds, another one was usually unchained and let loose into the arena, wild with frenzied hunger and terrified by the deafening noise. This usually finished off our hero.

Historical distance can often desensitize us to human suffering or make it an object of humour or curiosity, so it’s hard for us to contemplate the veritable dread these doomed men felt in the days leading up to their fate. Some were known to find inventive ways to cheat their grisly demise by committing suicide in the morning of their execution. Roman statesman Symmachus tells of 29 Saxon slaves, given to Rome as a gift, strangling each other to death in their cells the night before their scheduled downfall.

Scholae bestarium were schools where young bestiarii who wanted to make a life of it went and learned the trade. Here, they would learn how to fight, how to wield weapons, and animal trainers would teach them the most efficient way to kill a wild animal that they might one day face off against in the arena. Exotic animals transported in from the four corners of the earth, including lions, bears, dogs, tigers, wolves, rhinos, hyenas, boars, bulls.

In the arena, the most common attack method utilized by a bestiarii was to attempt to blind the animal by spearing it in the eye, then attacking the throat while it was stunned. But many, merely froze in one spot and meekly accepted their fate, letting the animal get its inevitable rip at their throat as quickly as possible. This resulted in irritated and unimpressed spectators - usually not good news for the next man up who might now have a bear thrown in alongside the lion he's about to face, in a morbid effort to pacify and appease the bloodthirsty mob.

"Man is slaughtered, to kill is an exercise and an art. Men offer themselves to the wild beasts, men of ripe age. They fight with beasts, not for their crime, but for their madness." Cyprian, Ad Donatus, VII More stories here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryHub

Raffle prize’s @bestiaru asked for ;)

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Aliens and Dragons Episode 1 The courier, Alexander, opened the box for Hazel to see. Hazel reached into the box and pulled out what seemed to be an arrow, except without an arrow head. "It's not complete. Is this some kind of joke?" Hazel said displeased. "There's a button, between the fletching ..." Hazel did not allow Alex to finish speaking before pushing a tiny button on the arrow end. Immediately a laser arrow head sprung up. Hazel admired the weapon before him. An arrow with a red triangular laser beam for an arrow head. "You're sure this will penetrate the dragons' hides?" Hazel asked the courier. "It hasn't been battle tested yet, but it's the best weapon we've created so far... Well this and... “Alexander reached again into the box and took out a cylindrical object. He pulled the object from the middle and extended its length. And then he pushed a button like Hazel had done with the arrow and a laser tipped end appeared, blue in colour unlike the arrow. "That's your laser tipped arrow and this is your laser tipped spear,” Alexander said handing the spear to Hazel. Hazel handed the arrow to a 17 year old girl standing to his right and collected the spear. "I won't lie to you Alex, these weapons look good, but I haven't made a decision yet. If you leave these with us for a few days, we'll get back to you when we make a decision. " " That's okay with me. There're 30 arrows left in the box. I'll leave them all with you. I must go now," Alex said. "Be careful Alex, don't get roasted by those dragons, "Hazel advised. He watched Alex depart from the building and turned to the girl beside him who was still holding the arrow. “Chinazor I know what you're thinking," Hazel said to the girl. “We have new weapons, we could use them to rescue my father, " Chinazor said. " You heard Alex, they've not been battle tested yet," Hazel said. " Let me go with the arrows to where the aliens are keeping my father and I'll battle test them for you." "You're not thinking straight, “Hazel said and collected the arrow from Chinazor." "Come on Mark, talk to your friend, “Hazel said to the other teenage boy on his left. " Don't bring me into this, “Mark said and started to walk after Hazel and Chinazor. " I can't stand by any longer and do nothing. My father is the leader of the rebellion in this quadrant. It's imperative we get him back. " " And no one understands that more than me, “Hazel said getting to the room they used as an armoury, " but right now it's too dangerous.” Hazel replaced the arrow back in the box Alex had left behind together with the spear contracted back to its short form. “I promise you, after we battle test these and prove that they actually penetrate the scaly hides of those fiery beasts, I'll personally lead a mission to rescue your father." Chinazor didn't say a word. Hazel led the two teenagers out and locked the armoury behind him. "Now go join the others in the main hall," Hazel said. At midnight, after swiping the key to the armoury from a sleeping Hazel, Chinazor snuck to the armoury and opened the suit case. She'd already got her quiver and bow ready. The picked fifteen of the new arrows and put them in her quiver. As she closed the case and turned to go, she saw Mark. "Were you stalking me?” She asked in a whisper. “I figured you'd try something like this, "Mark replied. " I won't let you stop me, “Chinazor said defiantly. " I have no intention of doing that, " Mark said reopening the case and taking out the spear.” I'm not going to allow you to do this alone. " " Suit yourself,” Chinazor replied,” but you better watch your own back. I can't babysit and take on magic wielding, dragon riding aliens at the same time. " Mark chuckled.” We'll see who'll be babysitting who. " They snuck out of the rebellion base and walked far into the shadows of the night. Luckily they spotted no alien patrol that night. It was almost dawn when they got to where Chinazor's father was being held. They entered the building by climbing in through a window. After wondering for a while, they heard Chinazor's father's voice coming from a room. "That's Emeka,” Mark whispered. "Shhhhh!" Chinazor shushed. Silently, they listened to the conversation going on in the room. "Humanity will never surrender to you,” Emeka had just finished saying. “Refer to me as Warlock Zourd, you puny human, “boomed a voice from inside the room. Chinazor and Mark exchanged glances. The title "warlock" was only used by the members of the alien species who could use magic. This was bad news for the would be rescuers. The normal aliens were hard enough to kill as it was. "We saved your planet. We helped you deal with your climate change problem by using our magic to wipe out most of your technology. We solved your population problem by killing half of your people... " " You call that saving?” Emeka's father interrupted Zourd's monologue. “You humans had no respect for your planet. You're not worthy of it. " " Maybe not, but in the end it's our planet.” Chinazor and Mark saw a flash of light and then Emeka screamed. “Not anymore, " Zourd replied. " This planet belongs to the magical race of Bestiarus now. Don't ever forget that again. Humans made a mistake choosing science over magic. My species was wiser. “ Unexpectedly, the door to the room opened. Chinazor and Mark instinctively fled out of sight and peeped at Zourd as he walked away, his black wizard cloak floating behind him and the wizard hat bent to one side of his head. “I’ve never seen an alien so up close before. I'm surprised they have a good looking green skin. I always imagined they would have ugly red skin with a forked tail and two horns on their heads, “Mark said. " I think you're mistaking devils for aliens, “Chinazor replied. " He must have left my father in there with some guards, “Chinazor said taking an arrow and fixing it in her bow. She pushed the arm button, and the red coloured laser head flickered on. Mark took out his spear from a pouch by the side of his trousers and extended it to its full length and then armed it so that its end lit up with a conical blue laser. "On three,” Chinazor whispered. “One, two, three!” Chinazor kicked the door open and fired her arrow at a guard standing by the corner of the room. The laser tip seared right into the alien's body. Mark burst in and thrusted his spear at the only other guard in the room. The guard put up his metal shield but the spear's laser end pierced the through it and struck him. Even Mark was impressed. Chinazor rushed and threw her hands around her father. "What are you doing here?” He asked surprised to see her. “We came to rescue you," she answered. "You two can catch up later. We gotta move now! “Mark said. Emeka rushed over to the table in the room and folded a scroll into his pocket. “Let’s get going, " he said. As the three of them emerged into the hallway, they saw Zourd coming back. Emeka took out the scroll and stuffed it into his daughter's hands. " Go with this; it's more important. " " Dad what're you doing? “Chinazor asked. " Go! “Emeka said and dashed back into the room they had just come out from and came back with a sword of one of the slain aliens. He rushed at Zourd with the sword attempting to buy enough time for the kids to escape. Chinazor and Mark made a run for it. As Emeka raised his sword, Zourd pulled out his wand and with a flick, a small flower made of red light emerged from its pointed end and sped into Emeka's sword. As the light construct hit the sword, it transformed the sword into a real flower. With another flick of his wand Zourd sent a knife made of green light at Emeka, and Chinazor looked back just in time to see her father get struck by a magical knife. Emeka slumped to the floor and died. By now Chinazor and Mark were only a few inches from the exit. But before they could go through, a small orange wall flew over their heads and landed behind them. A wall which wasn't there a second ago appeared right in front of them. They turned and tried to head for another exit but Zourd cornered them. And like he had done to Emeka, he flicked his wand and a knife made of red light sprung forth from it and just as it made contact with Chinazor's neck it dissolved into the air. "I would love to kill you myself, but alas, my dragon needs feeding.” Warlock Zourd flicked his wand once more, a black coloured castle burst out from its tip and when it hit the wall behind them, it caused the entire building to transform into a castle just like the miniature one that had come out from Zourd's wand. Fear paralysed Chinazor and Mark as they watched their surrounding transform into the interior of a castle. Chinazor took an arrow from her quiver and fired it at Zourd. Zourd fired a red spherical construct from his wand which hit Chinazor's arrow and caused it to explode. Zourd fired another light beam, this time not directed at either Chinazor or Mark. The blue light with the shape of a door way expanded and Zourd walked into it and vanished. The doorway vanished. Mark smiled, "I thought he said something about a dragon. Empty threat." Just as he finished talking, the magical door opened again and a dragon walked through it. As the doorway disappeared again, Chinazor and Mark looked at the huge, monstrous beast before them. The dragon opened its gigantic mouth and Chinazor together with Mark jumped out of the way. Not a moment too soon as the dragon breathed out a large jet of fire. "Oh no, “Chinazor whispered under her breath, “We’re done for. " The story continues.

Bestiarus Urbanus, 3 livrets, 148 x 210 mm, impression sur demande, imprimé sur Xerox

Mes achats #manga #myheroacademia #parasite #bestiarus #onepiece #ranma1_2 #dragonballz #hokutonoken

#bestiarus, de la chasse , où est la proie ? Qui est le chasseur ? Et la victime est-elle gibier ou fauve ? (à La Ménagerie, le zoo du jardin des Plantes)